


There's No Other Wizard Except Me

by kedawen



Series: No Place Like Home [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Bunker Fic, Fluff, Gen, Human Castiel, M/M, Post Season 8, Technobabble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-30
Updated: 2013-08-30
Packaged: 2017-12-25 03:55:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/948336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kedawen/pseuds/kedawen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The idea had come to her one evening, as she was hacking into yet another government facility. There was so much knowledge stored in the bunker, in the forms of books and journals, but it was all so haphazard - more time was wasted searching for the information than was spent actually using it. If everything could be archived and indexed, it would be infinitely more useful.</p>
<p>(Charlie uses her skills to upgrade the technology in the bunker and realizes it's more than just another hacking job.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	There's No Other Wizard Except Me

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first in a series of bunker fics. They all have some reference to the Wizard of Oz - I couldn't resist seeing as how they've settled in Kansas. They're mostly Dean/Cas centric, but I really love Charlie.

**to: sam winchester, dean winchester**   
**from: charlie bradbury**   
**subject: knock knock!**

i come bearing gifts. let me in, bitches!

 

Charlie pockets her phone and leans against her car, enjoying the light evening breeze that sprung up after a warm, still afternoon. Driving through Kansas in the late summer with a broken AC is no picnic. She closes her eyes, letting the sun play over her eyelids and takes a deep breath. She had never expected to find a place that felt like home ever again, and the fact that it was the lair of a secret society with more books and artifacts than she’d ever dreamed of was just a piece of unexpected good luck.

She also never expected to feel like she had a _family_ again, and the fact that it was two men with imaginations as big as hers and hearts of solid gold was yet another piece of good luck.

Charlie Bradbury feels very lucky indeed.

“You brought me presents?” A gruff voice startles her from her reverie and she opens her eyes to see those two exceptional men standing in front of her, looking excited.

“Hey boys!” She greets them as Dean swoops in for a hug. _Never thought I’d be comfortable enough with anyone to be hugging them all the time, either_ , she muses.

Dean peeks into the backseat of her car as she hugs Sam - not quite as tightly as Dean - and grumbles when all he can see is computer equipment.

“I have things for all of you, don’t worry,” Charlie assures him. “First and foremost, of course, is the equipment I’ll need to upgrade your systems and start on the digital archive project.”

The idea had come to her one evening, as she was hacking into yet another government facility. There was so much knowledge stored in the bunker, in the forms of books and journals, but it was all so haphazard - more time was wasted searching for the information than was spent actually using it. If everything could be archived and indexed, it would be infinitely more useful.

Dean had scoffed at the idea, of the opinion that it sounded like too much work, and Sam had expressed his preference for the feel of actual books in his hands and the experience of cross-referencing things himself. Kevin had, naturally, been on her side, but it wasn’t until after a case in which the lack of complete information had almost resulted in Sam being seriously injured that they all started to get on board with her proposal.

She opens the car door and directs Sam to pick up the touchscreen computer. Dean throws the strap of one duffel bag over his shoulder - “Careful with that!” she warns - and grabs the handle of the other bag. She shoulders her laptop case and they head toward the door.

Sam ducks through, but before Charlie can follow, Dean reaches out a hand, holding her back.

“Cas is here…” he starts.

“How's that going?" She asks with a wink.

Dean’s expression turns bashful for a moment, thinking back on the long email chains with Charlie, asking for advice. He forces a neutral expression and answers, "It's fine. S’good."

"Glad to hear it. "

“He's just... still adjusting, you know?”

“So I shouldn't run around the bunker naked, is what you're saying?”

Dean’s eyebrows shoot up. “No, Cas would be fine with that. Kevin, not so much, I think.”

Charlie hums a disappointed sound.

“Just... go easy on the movie references and everything, okay? Cas gets frustrated with that stuff and there's only so many hours of television I’m comfortable letting him watch at once.”

“All right, mom, I'll act like a muggle,” Charlie teases.

“Yeah, see, that's not very reassuring, kid.”

Stepping through that hobbit-hole door is literally like walking into another world, and she gets goosebumps every time.

She sees that Kevin’s already gotten started on taking apart the main consoles in the war room; wires and circuits sit exposed in multiple places where the covers have been removed, and a few cords snake across the floor attached to laptops. The man himself comes into the room a moment later, holding a fresh cup of coffee. His face lights up when he sees Charlie. She barely steps off the stairs by the time he sets his cup down and rushes forward for a hug.

“It’s good to see you again, Kev,” she murmurs into his ear. They had met earlier in the summer at a LARPing event and became fast friends.

“You too.”

She pulls back and her gaze falls on a man hesitating in the doorway. Messy dark hair, ridiculously blue eyes…

“You must be Castiel,” she surmises.

Dean sets down his bags, gently, and walks to Castiel’s side. “Charlie, this is Cas. Cas, Charlie.”

“It’s very nice to meet you,” Cas says in a formal tone, and gives her a small nod.

“And you.” She grins at him, then meets Dean’s eyes. He shrugs a little; Charlie remembers that it might take Cas awhile to warm up to her.

After another trip to the car to retrieve everyone's presents from the trunk, the group settles around one of the library tables to catch up and eat dinner. Charlie is thrilled that Dean made his famous hamburgers and she can't hold back a groan after the first bite.

"These should be illegal," she says after scarfing down one burger and reaching for another. She doesn't miss how Dean's face lights up in response to the praise and vows to encourage him to cook, a lot, while she stays here.

One by one they lean back in their chairs after stuffing themselves full. She waits until Cas is finished - he seems to take his time and really enjoy his food, she notices - and hands the first gift to Sam.

"I wrapped them for fun, because I haven't had the chance to do that in a long time..." she trails off.

"It's great, Charlie, but you didn't have to get us things," Sam assures her.

She shrugs. "I wanted to."

She gives Sam a tablet, just like hers but one version better. "I loaded the monster app I built on there for you."

"Thank you," he says with an excited grin.

Dean's present comes next - a stack of records from a wide variety of artists.

"I know you like the old stuff you found here, but I thought you and everyone else might like some variety."

Kevin is nodding slightly and Dean glares at him before wrapping his arm around Charlie's middle and squeezing. "Thanks, sweetheart," he says.

A big box is opened to reveal an espresso machine for Kevin and he's out of his seat, hugging her tightly. Clearly he’s been lacking good coffee for far too long.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," he chants into her hair.

"Of course," she replies with a laugh.

She extracts herself and turns back to the table, ready to dole out the last present. Cas and Dean are hunched over a couple record sleeves, trying to decide which to put on first.

"Cas," she says quietly, sliding a squishy package across the table towards him. He looks up at her with a genuinely surprised expression and Dean grins, knowing just as well as Charlie that Cas hadn’t expected a gift.

He reaches for it and pulls it in close, tugging at the edges of the wrapping delicately.

"Rip it open, man," Dean encourages him. At a nod from Charlie, he does just that.

She had had some trouble thinking of something for the former angel - it's not like they make greeting cards that say "sorry you lost your mojo and got stuck on earth with the rest of us". In the end she went with some things that give her a bit of comfort: an extra large version of her favorite zip-up hoodie that stays soft no matter how many times it gets washed and a tin of loose leaf green tea with a mesh tea ball.

Cas rubs his hand over the soft material, head bowed.

"That tea will keep you up all night, so don't drink it after 5 or so, 'kay?" Charlie says, simply to break the silence.

He looks up suddenly, meeting her gaze with his intense eyes and says very solemnly, "Thank you, Charlie."

"You're very welcome," she answers, holding eye contact for another moment, before breaking away to start picking up her dishes.

"What do I do with the paper now?" Cas asks, gathering the torn pieces of wrapping paper in front of him. Everyone laughs, causing Cas to frown slightly.

"Nothing," Dean says as he balls some up and tosses it into a trash can across the room. "Three points!" He yells.

"I still don't understand," Cas presses.

"It's just one of those silly traditions. Here, help me with these dishes."

Cas grumbles, but stands and accepts a load to carry to the kitchen. They eventually kick Dean out, since the cook doesn't do dishes, and he retreats to the TV room with a huge grin on his face.  

* * *

 

Midnight finds Charlie and Kevin in the war room, sorting through the equipment she brought with her.

"Where did you get the money for all this stuff, anyway?" Kevin asks as he carefully sets out the components for the bunker's new server.

"Consider it a severance package from Dick Roman," she says with a shrug. “After that all went down, there was a lot of chaos surrounding his companies so I skimmed off a good amount and nobody was the wiser."

He looks at her, impressed, and she grins before booting up the touchscreen computer Sam had so helpfully mounted on the wall.

“I love these computers,” Charlie muses as she flicks windows across the screen with her fingertips. “They’re so _Minority Report_.”

“Without all the freaky pre-crime stuff and replacing your eyeballs with someone else’s, of course,” Kevin says with a shudder.

“Of course,” Charlie says unconvincingly, and they laugh.

“Let’s replace this router with the one I’ve got - “ she pulls it out of a bag - “ since the current one won’t handle the load we’re going to put on it.”

Kevin makes an impressed noise at the sight of the latest high-speed router on the market. “This might be a better present than the espresso machine,” he says, awestruck.

“Really?”

He thinks for a moment. “No, not really.”

They get to work, setting up the network and building the server tower. The room fills with the quiet sounds of screwdrivers, typing and steady breaths. As the server purrs to life, they both sigh contentedly.

“Best sound in the world…” Charlie murmurs.

“Agreed.”

“You ready for all the work this digital archive is going to take?” She asks over her shoulder as she leans over her laptop.

“I’m excited. I figure I’ll learn so much from all the books as I scan them in and I can really be a part of the team.”

“Do you want to go out in the field, hunt baddies?”

Kevin considers for a moment. “Probably not. I’m more of the R&D type…”

“The Q to the boys’ Bond?”

“Something like that, yeah.”

“Well, I’m done building the server. I think its time for bed, what do you say?” Charlie casually tries to encourage him to stop working and get some sleep. She knows he tends to push himself way too hard, and they’re not under a deadline this time.

“Yeah, you go ahead.”

“Kevin…”

“Fine.”

She pointedly watches him power down his laptop and then follows him out. As they pass the TV room, she sees that the TV is on, volume turned way down. Kevin is already down the hall near the bedrooms, so she trusts he’ll get there on his own. She ducks into the TV room, only to find Cas sitting on one of the couches, snuggled under a small mountain of blankets. He shifts when she comes around next to him and she can see he’s wearing the hoodie she gave him.

“Hey,” she greets him quietly. He peers up at her with a small smile. “Couldn’t sleep?”

“Yes. It happens quite often.”

She hums sympathetically and gestures to the couch. “Can I sit with you?”

“By all means,” he answers, still in that solemn tone.

“How does the hoodie fit?” She asks as she sinks into the cushions, pulling her legs up in front of her.

That gets her a bigger smile, and he holds his arms out slightly. “Very well, thank you. It’s extremely… soft.”

“I have one that looks just like it. I’ve had it for years. It’ll stay just that soft.”

He nods seriously. They sit in silence for a few minutes as a late night commercial plays.

“What are you watching?” She asks, finally. “Please tell me you’re not sitting here watching infomercials.”

“No… I’m watching _I Love Lucy_.”

“Ah, a classic!”

“I’m not sure I’m following it, though. Apparently she has something she needs to explain to Ricky?”

Charlie lets out a chuckle at that. “Yes. Yes, she does.”

After another episode and a half, her eyelids are drooping and she’s leaning into Cas’ side. “I’m going to get some sleep, for real this time. Need anything before I go?”

He shakes his head and wishes her sweet dreams. She pats him on the shoulder before she gets up and shuffles to her room.

* * *

 

The smell of bacon pulls Charlie from a rather strange dream involving Slap Chops and Oxyclean. As she stretches, she considers how glad she is that she decided to encourage Dean to keep cooking; she hasn’t eaten this well in a long time. She pulls on a hoodie and makes her way to the kitchen. She finds Dean whipping up eggs, bacon, and French toast. She feels very melancholy for a moment, thinking about how her job here is almost done and how much she will miss this.

She looks towards the small table set up in the corner of the kitchen and sees Cas watching Dean with a small smile. She greets them both and the sincerity she gets in return makes her chest ache.

Another familiar, more subtle, smell reaches her nose and she tips her head towards the cup in front of Cas.

“How do you like the tea?”

He looks surprised, but answers evenly, “It’s very good. Thank you, Charlie.”

“Dude, don’t downplay it.” Dean turns and rolls his eyes. “That’s his third cup and he’s probably considering another.”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it. You can reuse the leaves to make another cup - it’s not as strong but it makes the tin last longer.” Charlie winks at Cas and is rewarded with a genuine smile.

Dean fills a plate with food, handing it to her with a fond look. “How are the upgrades coming?”

“We’re making progress. I had to force Kevin to get some sleep - that kid is worse than I was at his age.”

“Tell me about it. I’m just glad he’s not forcing himself to work as hard as he did when he was translating the tablet. That shit was scary.” He shudders at the memory.

Charlie hums agreeably around her bite of French toast. Kevin comes through the door a few minutes later, making a beeline for the espresso machine.

By dinner time, Charlie and Kevin are ready to take an axe to the consoles in the war room and sell them for scrap metal. Bridging the gap between the technology of the 1940s and current technology was never going to be easy, but all the security protocols were making it especially frustrating.

“I give up!” Kevin finally shouts.

Charlie agrees. “Let’s smooth out the wrinkles with the rest of the system so you and Sam can get started on the archive sooner than later.”

Dean, Cas, and Sam wander in, concerned about Kevin’s shouting.

“OK, nerd herd, let’s get a progress update.” Dean teases.

Charlie rolls her eyes. “Cute.”

“I’m adorable,” Dean quips. Cas nods seriously.

“Anyway…” Charlie redirects their attention to the wall-mounted screen and demonstrates as she explains. “We're having some trouble with the old technology, but we're mostly done. This computer is the hub. You can access the security systems for the bunker, pull up the monster app and look through the archives. There’s not much material in there yet, Kevin was just testing it earlier, but it should go smoothly.”

Sam leans in from his perch on the map table. “How does the archive work?”

She picks up her tablet and hovers it over a book laying open on the table. “Take a picture of a page, load it onto the server, where the conversion program will turn the handwriting into text and index that and the images.”

She moves to the screen and scrolls through the files there, pulling up the photo she just took. “Make sure to indicate the book name when you upload it. The program does the rest of the work. Everything will be searchable and organized. And you can access all of it from your laptops so you can sit cozy in the library and cross-reference to your heart’s content.”

Kevin looks proud of everything they’ve accomplished, bouncing on his toes with a wide grin on his face. Everyone else looks at her like she’s The Wizard of Oz.

Sam is the first to snap out of it. “Charlie… this is amazing. You’re amazing.”

Charlie is embarrassed to feel her cheeks heating up. “Piece of cake, my friends. My work here is done.” She starts packing up her stuff as Kevin and Sam head towards the kitchen, and she hears Kevin geeking out about all the information they’ll have at their fingertips.

Dean hangs back while Cas starts poking at the computer on the wall, frowning and tilting his head as the windows fly around on the screen.

“Charlie?” Dean starts quietly.

“Yeah,” she answers without looking at him.

“Is there anywhere…. Can you stay awhile, maybe?”

She looks up then, meeting his eyes. A warm feeling blooms in her chest. “Really? You want me to?”

“I guess…” He trails off, shrugging.

“Dean,” Cas prompts quietly.

Dean frowns slightly in his direction and then stands up, looking determined. “Yes, I would really like you to stay, if you want to.”

She exhales a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. “I’d love to stay.”

He looks so relieved that she can’t help stepping closer and wrapping her arms around him. As he pulls her in, she inhales the familiar scent of leather and books and _home_. After a moment, he pulls away, pressing a quick kiss to her temple.

“Alright, time for dinner!” He proclaims and leads the way out.

She follows and Cas steps in beside her. “Thank you,” he says quietly, and puts a hand on her shoulder. She leans in, and smiles.

“You’re welcome, Cas.”


End file.
